


Be with me

by AirTrafficControl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghost(s), Gen, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Post TROS, Spoilers, Tatooine (Star Wars), What Comes Next
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21856204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AirTrafficControl/pseuds/AirTrafficControl
Summary: The irony of living on a moisture farm is not lost on her, but at least she doesn't have to pay for it.- An assortment of pieces following Rey after the conclusion of The Rise of Skywalker.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	1. The story of Skywalker

**Author's Note:**

> Rey has been through a lot in the past months. She has met so many good people, and lost may along the way, but she has always had a clear end goal. 
> 
> She doesn't know what she's meant to do next.

"Rey Skywalker,"

The woman asking her name seems surprised, as though she had not expected to see a Skywalker about the remains of the old Lars' moisture farm. This is probably quite reasonable, because Rey wasn't sure she was going to say until the words had already passed into the air. 

Whilst there have been no Skywalkers on Tatooine for decades, there are still some who remember the old name. Rey declines an invitation to stay at the woman’s home but asks if she can meet her another time.

That night Rey sleeps on a bed that must be older than time and covered in more sand than she could imagine possible. The sand reminds her of Jakku but the pain of those memories is tempered with the knowledge that her parents were trying to save her. The desert gets cold, but Rey finds comfort in using the skills that kept her alive before her great adventure. The two suns are a new addition to her otherwise familiar landscape, but she thinks that she could probably get used to that easily enough.

She does go back to the woman. Ennara Tegu is a weaver, travelling past the moisture farm on her regular passage between their nearest town and her dwelling. Ennara has all manner of knowledge about all sorts of things and Rey listens to it all eagerly. She learns about the culture of Tatooine, about the weaving process, about the herbs that go into the infusion they both drink from small enamel cups. She learns the history of the Skywalkers, from the very beginning.

For hours, Rey sits cross legged as a small child and listens to the story of a woman named Shmi. It is impossible not to see the resemblance. A woman, alone in the universe and sold into slavery. There is such overlap that that night Rey dreams of having a fatherless child of her own, but the idea blows away as easily as the sand from her pillow. Shmi did not have a happy start to life, nor a peaceful end, but Rey would rather hear the truth than a fairy tale. Ennara tells Rey what she can of Shmi, and of the very early years of Anakin’s life but little more after his departure with the Jedi knight. Rey asks more about Shmi, and the Lars family.

Everything since she has left Jakku has been about Jedi and Sith and she wants to know more about the normal part of the world. The story comes to an abrupt halt, when a teenage Luke comes home to find his family killed and the farm ransacked, then sets off to save the galaxy. The rest of that story Rey knows.

She couldn’t say for certain that she hadn’t used Jedi mind tricks on the woman, but it seems to be easily accepted that Rey Skywalker is who she says she is. Even if she isn’t, there isn’t exactly much for her to take advantage of. Ennara tells her that she is always welcome to stop by, and that there are others in the town who would be willing to talk more about the family.

That night, Rey fidgets to get comfortable on the blankets and vows to buy something new from Ennara the next time she visits. She realises halfway through sorting her inventory of what she could trade for said blanket that she has plans. She has perfectly normal, everyday plans that will not change the fate of the universe. She has perfectly normal, everyday plans with another perfectly normal, everyday person. She has plans for next Wednesday, so she can have the best pick before Ennara travels to the market. She has plans to purchase belongings and plans of where to put them around this little farm that she plans to make her home.

All those plans refuse to stay in order, her mind jumping between ideas that roll around and knock into each other. Its exhausting, and her day has been long with the journey to and from Ennara’s home, so Rey falls asleep juggling her plans.

When she wakes, long after both suns have risen, she finds that some of the plans are neatly organised. Some have added suggestions, whilst others have been downgraded in urgency. It’s an odd side effect that she has been feeling ever since the voices first came, she doesn’t always know how to make them stop, but she has never had this many plans before and so she accepts what guidance the voices can give her.

(She can't separate the voices yet, figure out which one is which, but one voice in particular is especially distraught about all the sand everywhere. Rey sympathises with the voice, and adds a broom to her supply list for both their benefits. Keeping out the sand is a never ending task, but she thinks there are worse things to occupy her time whilst she figures out the rest of her goals.)


	2. Places to rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey goes to Tatooine alone, but she doesn't stay that way for long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, none of these chapters will be in a chronological order. There is also no plot, this is mostly just a handful of ideas that fell from my brain after watching the movie.

Once she’s settled, Rey is not averse to people visiting. Poe and Finn visit when they get the chance. Finn finds the similarity to Jakku bizarre, as if there weren’t so many new places to explore, whilst Poe brings her a cutting from the force tree that his mother grew on Yavin IV. They both stay and help her sort out some of the cleaning that still needs doing, as well as ask her multiple times if she doesn’t want to come back with them. Poe seems to understand better; he’s seen more people of his parent’s generation who fought out of necessity but were not in it for life. He tries to explain this to Finn, and by the time the two of them have to leave, they are all happier that Rey isn’t hiding, nor is she being abandoned.

In time, her little farm becomes a refuge, a place of pilgrimage for people to ponder their journeys. She finds that most of the strangers that arrive on her doorstep fall into three categories.

The first are the force sensitive. These are people that have travelled to learn about their powers and who will initially be sorely disappointed when Rey refuses to take them on as students. That being said, she never leaves anyone in the dust. Everyone is welcome to stay, to join her morning meditation or to peruse the information from the Jedi texts. Some of the stronger force users are taken aside so that Rey can discuss her new philosophy with them, and then sent on their way. The voices in her head tell her that there are others in the universe who can teach lessons that she can’t. Some of the voices want to teach through her, but she assures them that that won’t be happening, she does not want to become some sort of Jedi access panel.

The second group are the orphans. These are people who also have no family ties, nobody who they belong to. Rey panics, feeling a cheat herself now that she knows at least on paper who her parents are, but none of the guests take offence at this. She can’t magic up family histories out of thin air, but she is willing to act as a sort of base for those who need it. Her most frequent regulars end up hardly leaving, and those who are there often enough manage to make new families between them. It is always a little sad when they stop coming around, but they usually send communications of the families that they are building in their new lives and Rey cannot begrudge them that happiness.

The third group are the older ones, at least older in their souls. These are the veterans, the survivors of two wars who are just done with the world. It starts with friends from the resistance, who even after victory have a tiredness in their eyes that is not removed by sleep. These people have lost too much, have sacrificed more than they can regain from medals or celebrations or ‘thank you’ from passers-by on the street. All Rey can offer them is a place to stay and a guarantee that talk of the war will be kept out of the main house. There are outbuildings that people can use if they want to reminisce, or if those who weren’t involved want to learn more, but Rey likes to keep a safe space for the people who have suffered enough.

No matter who walks in the door, Rey offers the same basic amenities. Everyone gets a safe place to sleep, even if it’s just somewhere to put their sleeping mat, and plenty to eat. Part of her will always be cautious enough to squirrel away her own reserves of food and water but everything beyond that is up for grabs. She charges those who can afford it, reasonable rates for room and board that allow her to keep the place running. Those who cannot afford it are not turned away, but she always has something that needs doing and never says no to some help. It’s a running joke amongst her regulars, the ‘discount’. Some claim that Rey has never charged full price for anything. She gives discounts to the resistance, to orphans, to people from massive families, to youngsters, to the elderly. Rey doesn’t care, she doesn’t need credits, and she’d rather have friends anyway.


	3. Youngling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There might not be any more Jedi but there will always be those who feel the force

Force sensitive children used to be taken from their families to be trained at the Jedi temple. Rey finds this troubling. Perhaps it is because her own separation from her parents was so traumatic, but she can’t really understand how that wouldn’t be stressful. Luke used to talk about finding refuge in the force, but Rey has never really felt that. The force is a tool, a feeling she can tap into but really the force has taken more than its given. If that makes her any less of a Jedi then what of it, there isn’t exactly anyone to tell her off that still has a corporeal form.

Rey also finds this troubling because she met Finn. Finn was also taken as a child, raised in an institution that trained and moulded him to be the perfect warrior. Being realistic, she doesn’t imagine that the Jedi temple could ever have been as awful as being raised by the First Order but there are too many parallels for her to be completely comfortable.

A family come to her one day. They have travelled far to reach her because their child is showing signs of the force. The voices have predicted this, that the spreading peace would lead to the force being more visible, and more children being born. Still it comes as a surprise to see this small child with palpable potential.The family ask her advice, ask if she will train him. Rey knows that she will never agree but she asks them to stay for a while.

She consults the voices. Several of them have very strong opinions about the Jedi code and the Jedi traditions and Rey threatens to go to sleep just to shut them all up. The arguments continue, debating over the proper procedure and despite what she says Rey does listen to the points.They tell ghost stories about past events, about children who were not trained and how they suffered. Some turned the power inside and went mad with rage. Others became so overwhelmed to the universe that they became numb. They tell stories of force sensitive children pulled to the dark side by curiosity and trapped by the heady strength of the force.

Rey returns to the family. She watches them eat dinner in her humble dining room, parents talking and engaging with all of their children. She cannot imagine taking away a child from their parents, or their siblings. She cannot imagine that she could teach any more than they could. After all she can still remember the first time she saw a kriffing pond.

She sits with the whole family and talks to them about the force. She tells them what she knows of the force and the basics of how to control it. Most of it is safety stuff, how to avoid seeing into other people’s minds, how to shield their own. A lot of it is based on the ancient texts and what the voices have told her but its heavily edited. This child will not be taken away, won’t be trained in a sterile environment where emotions are to be shamed. This child will not be trained as a warrior.Rey sends them on their way with a comm contact and a list of other force sensitive people who agreed to talk. She encourages the family to talk to as many people as possible, to learn from all sorts of people with different backgrounds and philosophies. 

While she isn't a teacher, she loves the joy on their faces when she shows them basic tricks, when she guides them through meditations and teaches them the elements of the force. She loves introducing them to other people who have the same struggles, to watch them forge friendships that will support them once they return to the real world.

More come. There are more than Rey could ever train on her own, but she doesn’t need to worry because she has taught the first ones to teach themselves. They spread like the branches of a tree to the corners of the galaxy, with deep roots anchored in the new foundations of balance and love. Rey thinks that’s pretty good going for a desert dweller. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness this one wouldn't behave. I apologise for the structure of it but I wanted to post it before I forget my thoughts


End file.
